About Me

I am, according to one of my granddaughters, a little old lady. Sometimes I feel a little old but mostly I forget to check. I like scrapbooking, photography and family history. those are the main hobbies but I also knit, sew, bead, embroider, quilt, cook and avoid housework.

Monday, 19 December 2016

It's been a week of rediscovery here at Macey Towers. Finding spaces for the stuff that lived happily for 20 years in the backs of cupboards.
Dishes and bowls that had been dragged screaming into the harsh light of day and now were being judged as to their suitability for The New Kitchen.

What was new this weekend? a new curtain track in the breakfast room to replace the one I managed to break when I opened the curtains after three weeks of not being able to get to them. As the curtains were thick with sawdust and absolutely minging they went down to the washing machine and spent the afternoon on the radiator drying. Mr M was very brave and stood on two chairs (one for each foot, not on top of each other) and fixed the new track to the wall and then put the curtains onto the track.
The Charity Shop boxes are by the front door, I have found a new place for the china cabinet to live and Miss Boo spent an energetic hour carrying books upstairs ready for grandma to put them onto the bookshelf that had to move for the china cabinet to................. you get the picture, I was playing put and take with furniture all week.
Today my lovely daughter and my favourite son-in-law spent half an hour moving the last of the boxes down to the cellar and stowing the cookery books into a space until after Christmas. Tonight we get the tree up and decorated and then tomorrow Eldest Son and his family will arrive and the festive season will begin

Monday, 12 December 2016

It's been a funny old week. They fixed the last of the doors, the gasman gasgirl came and fixed the hob, the oven awas connected and the brackets to stop it falling on my toes were fixed. I threw the belly pork into the only roasting tin I could find and then rummaged in another box for the conversion chart so I could put the oven on the correct temperature.

Friday evening and the belly pork is in the oven!

On Saturday we went to Costco. They always have lots that we desperately need and this time was no exception. We bought pork chops and belly pork and bacon and coffee and christmassy stuff and we grazed our way around what is known as the pensioners free lunch. In Costco they do samplea of food. At the end of most aisles you will find a small table thingy and a food demonstartor and you can try the stuff and then buy it. As I said, they always have something I desperately need.

Roast beef for our first Sunday meal from the new kitchen

We bought trays of soft drinks and bags of Lemons and Limes. I slice them and then freeze them on trays then put them into containers so that Mr M can drop a few into his glass of water. Costco lemons are always big and juicy and their limes beat any I have seen in any supermarket. Their mushrooms are also the best quality.

When we got home and I had vacuum packed the neat and put it into the chest freezer I began unpacking boxes. I have now rediscovered the saucepans and the roasting tins and most of the cake tins. I totally forgot to make yorkshire puddings to go with the beef simply because I didn't find those tins until after we had eaten.
What was new? what did I learn? Well, the oven is an ongoing experience. I will need to run through several things before I can safely say I know it. The hob seems to heat things more quickly that the old one but that could just be wishful thinking. Over all I am thrilled to bits with my new kitchen and can't wait for the flooring man to come and lay the new vinyl.

My thanks to Sian at FromHighInTheSky for inventing this meme and keeping me sane through the last 8 weeks

Monday, 5 December 2016

We have had a busy weekend. We bought a little heater for the cellar, just to take the edge off the cold down there. It works a treat. That's a new thing. We also bought a new light fitting for the breakfast room - I still call it that even though it is really the dining part of the kitchen-diner. We also bought a doormat to go by the door in the cellar. This means that after a hard day digging my enormous (18 feet by 15 feet and mostly paved except for a flower bed) garden I won't track mud through the house. I am teasing a bit here because the doormat is an excellent idea to keep those little gritty stones from reaching my wooden stairs.

The new sink will go over in that corner

My kitchen is long and narrow and tailored to my needs - mostly. The wall units all have a top shelf that I cannot reach and I was grumbling in my head about this until I thought
"My carers can worry about that!"
End of problemo!

No, they are not dancing just discussing next moves

The glimpse of "my" builders is something very rare. I just love the way they discuss each step of the way. They talk quietly, map out the next moves and then just get on with it. As a long time watcher of people it has been a really fascinating experience for me to see a father and son so in tune with each other. Each contributing and each listening to the other.

Friday night the guys have gone home leaving temporary worktopsNow we can see the shape of things to come

There will be a new floor. It will co-ordinate with the worktops which are a sandy-brown swirly colour much lighter than the brown you can see. That is actually the back of the boards that will go on the walls.

Monday will bring the real worktop and a sink that worksNo more washing up in a bowl balanced on the toilet seat

As I write I can hear the jigsaw cutting and there is also a drill. They are going to put the shelves into the one larder unit today so I can start to fill them with the contents of the old larder - there will be a sink with hot and cold water, the electrics will be done AND food can go into the larder.
See that teeny tiny light in the distance? that's the end of the tunnel! Hurrah

My thanks to Sian over at FromHighInTheSky for inventing this meme and keeping me writing even in the darkest part of this tunnel of work.